Being in love Hurts
by ilego
Summary: Connection Series


**Poster Notes:** **Under 6 C of Terms of Use, I believe I am allowed to publish this until/unless Admin Says otherwise**

 **Disclaimer: I do not Own Mass Effect it Is Property of Bioware and EA. I did not Create this Fanfic, that credit goes to darkdanny, Nevertheless it is in the public Domain. (never Copyrighted)**

She never felt so out of place in her life. Even if she was told otherwise.

It wasn't something she was feeling not a week prior, even on board a notoriously pro human organization's heavy frigate. No, this discomfort was from an outside threat. Not an outside threatening one like she was use too, but to a new sensation she either never felt it before in her past, she just wanted to talk to the one person in the galaxy she trusted the most. She wanted to vent her concerns and know she would be listened to properly.

The problem with that was that Shepard and her were not on speaking terms. Not since the Shepard spared the Collector base and handed the proverbial keys to 'the Devil' as Kasumi referred to the funder of the mission. She knew that John had the big picture in mind but still, it felt as if it had been a slap in the face to everyone who had been processed during the free reign the collectors had over the human settlers on on the edge of Terminus space.

But, at the moment that took a backseat to something more recent. This strange... jealousy. Oh Keelah, why did she and John have to fight? why in the hell were both of them too stubborn to break the silence so she could ease the concern. She hated this feeling. Possessiveness, Jealously, whatever it was called.

It was something she felt very strongly recently since her personal life had expanded to include someone else special in her life. It couldn't have been jealously, it was impossible, at least that was what she believed. Normally she would laugh it off publicly and focus on other things while she privately gained a sense of control over the impulse to destroy females who spoke to her interest in a unprofessional manner.

Okay, so maybe it was jealousy... She was still pretty sick from her open air exposure.

Besides, how could anyone blame her? For the past few days her emotions were thrown completely into a loop for the past few days. While she was happy to finally have had a chance to pursue a relationship with the man she loved, The Cerberus deal and her stewing on the fact that John had invited his old... flame on board her new home and he was currently very occupied with her.

Granted, Tali admitted grudgingly, Her mission was an important one for the galaxy and it certainly required Shepard's attention. It still annoyed the quarian that she wasn't at the very least asked to help with the technical aspects to the operation, She was shut completely out of the operation with Kasumi Goto going in her place. But the mission had ended hours ago, the broken eradicated off the face of the galaxy. Yet, the asari was still on board, still touring and making nice with everyone on board.

Frankly she wasn't impressed, even if she was a personal guest of the Commander. Tali'Zorah was never a woman to quickly judge another quickly. especially one she once considered a good friend. Usually she tried to extend the 'olive branch', Whatever that was, to those she may have had differing of viewpoints with.

However, for all the talk of peace was useless. Especially when the thought of Doctor Liara T'Soni consorting with Shepard privately for the past few hours. Touching him with blue, perfectly matching hands. hands that could be linked much easier then her. The image of frantic and casual sex hard between two healthy people who shared a long rich history made the very blood in her veins boil to a rage.

She knew she ought to have been ashamed with her behavior. Under any other circumstances she'd be very upset with this sudden attitude shift. But this sensation called jealously, an emotion which was something she never felt, coupled with what felt like half her her body weight becoming bacteria after her first intimate moment only fanned the flames.

"Chief Engineer, you have a couple visitors." The voice of Engineer Gabrielle Daniels spoke up disrupting the thoughts of the brooding quarian. Tali looked up quickly. Perhaps it had been Shepard! She could say sorry and they could hug and hold each other and speak of the sweet things her captain spoke to her the night they first made love...

Tali's stomach dropped. Inwardly, she cursed her luck. It was Her.

"Hello Tali, I hope we're not bothering you." a motherly tone spoke from the lips of none other then Doctor Chakwas. By her side was Liara T'Soni, smiling much to nice for Tali's liking. Hidden behind a dark one way glass visor, Tali narrowed her eyes as her posture stiffened up.

"Oh, Hello Doctor Chakwas , Doctor T'Soni." Tali returned curtly and turned away from the doctor's, her hands typing on the console furiously as she defiantly reattempted to ignore their presence, "I'm doing a system wide scan of the Drive Core," She added, "Sorry, but I am rather busy to chat, Maybe later?"

With a subtle turn of her helmet, she noticed Liara's eyes were staring at her with an unspoken list of questions for her. As for Doctor Chakwas, she seemed to be downcast. Perhaps she was saddened by the rejection of someone she considered a dear friend of hers. Whatever it had been Tali felt her stomach dulling as the guilt ate away at her resolve.

In many ways this behavior the doctor radiated served to remind her of her own mother, introverted, intelligent passionate and wise beyond her years. To see Doctor Chakwas hurt like this.. it was like disappointing her own mother... had she still been alive.

"Ah, well of course Tali, the vessel comes first." Chakwas finally said, looking up to allow Tali a kind understanding smile. She turned around and was about to stride away when from suddenly non other then Kenneth Donnelly clear his throat a bit to loudly for it to be an actual necessity.

"Ma'am, you know it's just rudimentary," Donnelly chirped up, his accent rolling over his words, "if it's that serious Gabby and I will deal with it. No trouble at all now go on and gab with old friends will ya!"

Tali blinked at the man who had destroyed the only excuse she had at her disposal. If Gabrielle Daniels was not present, The quarian would most certainly have told him to do something that would have shocked even the most hardened of crew members on board.

"Oh... well sure." The engineer finally said as she turned away from the smirking grin on the Scotsman's lips and reluctantly logged out of her console. She stepped away from the terminal to join Chakwas and Liara, who had tilted her head smiled, from Tali's perspective, much too casual still.

Her smile. Tali hated it beyond all other things in her life. This coming from someone who did not hate anything that wasn't geth. It was still much, much too friendly a smile for Tali's liking. It had a hidden meaning. Perhaps the asari had thought she figured out why Tali was so tense.

Chakwas gestured back towards the engine room's exit. Tali merely nodded and logged out of the terminal and took by Chakwas' side rather then the asari. Liara frowned briefly momentarily taken aback by the cold shoulder her former teammate had just given her.

"Doctor Chakwas and I were just having a conversation about the travels we had two years ago, catching up on the time we lost." Liara smiled at Tali with a brilliantly glowing whites of her teeth "We are sorry if you'd rather just-"

Tali rose one hand up and shook her head quickly.

"No, it's fine. a conversation with.. old friends would be nice." Tali lied to them, attempting to sound at least semi enthusiastic for both Chakwas and T'Soni's presence. In reality, she wanted nothing better to hide away from everyone on board of the Normandy, Especially Liara.

Most especially Shepard.

"How have you been doing Tali, you look wonderful... So to speak." The asari spoke up carefully, a small smile on her lips. "I wish I could have spent more time with all of the old faces after... well...

Tali paused herself and turned to look at Liara. Her veiled eyes judgmental as she glared at her. If there was one thing Tali swirled herself around, it was the fact that she had lost Shepard for two whole years. From finding out he was gone to when they had there tender reunion on Freedom's Progress had been the hard moments in her life. Right up their with the loss of her mother as a teenager. The mere mention of those horrible years made her angry,

She paused and sighed at the sight of an apologetic looking asari. At least she was not a clueless fool like her time on the first _Normandy._

"It would have been hard." The quarian reminded her, the sarcasm in her voice thick, "Garrus took off to Omega to continue the Commander's work, Chief Williams got transferred and Wrex and I went back to our homes, like blights of the galaxy should be doing."

She gazed at the two of them before she shook her head in mild annoyance. With her brain looking for an excuse to shake them away from her, Tali turned away from the asari, crossing her arms as she left behind Liara and Chakwas and trudged to the elevator. Chakwas and Liara Shared a brief glance of sympathy before quickly falling into line behind the visibly upset young woman.

"My apologies. Yes, I suppose that would make a reunion hard to do." Liara spoke up formally, as if forcing herself to be polite. "With all my work... I've just been so caught up in, that I forgot what was important, my friends. It feels like I've been stumbling around in the dark for two years of my life."

Tali did not bother to reply as she reached the he elevator, now coming up from deck five, the cargo deck. She needed a drink and good company. Preferably Kasumi who could talk circles around Liara and Chakwas to the point where they would ignore her all together as Kasumi treated them to storytelling that rivaled that of the mercenary warlord, Zaeed Massani. Though, thankfully, they were much less bloody.

The door to the elevator hissed open. The lone occupant turned its machine vessel straight to focus one Tali, who nearly yelped in strained surprise and 300 years of instilled fear her parents had taught, whom they too learned from their parents as well.

Legion was standing there, only meters away from her. Though both her and the machine had an uneasy truce in which both quarian and geth fought together on many occasions, there was only one man keeping Tali from dismantling the machine.

"Creator Tali'Zorah." It spoke to her, an oddly respectful inflection in its voice

Tali stared hard at the machine. The two doctor's shared yet another glance as they both stood and watched the stare down occur between the child of it's maker and the still naïve synthetic lifeform. The flaps laced around Legions ocular sensors opened up as if it was embarrassed, worried even. Slowly the geth organism took a step back, compacting itself against the wall to allow the organics maximum space possible and to pacify the angered and unpredictable organic creator.

"Creator?" Liara asked aloud, curious as to question the title made by the machine. Legion turned it's focus from Tali and onto the asari.

"The official title designated to the quarians. Creators created our collective. They are named creators for that that purpose." Legion synthesized to her as if she had been a child. Tali almost snorted as Liara and Chakwas filed into the elevator as if Legion wasn't an emotionless killing machine.

"And to think that I was under the impression that you're suppose to be the new Shadow Broker, Doctor T'Soni." Tali muttered, her tone barely containing unmitigated bitterness as she entered the elevator behind Liara and Chakwas.

Liara blushed, her cheeks becoming brilliant purple from the jab against her. With resigned sigh from the remark, Doctor Chakwas turned right around to face Tali'Zorah like she were an offending child. Tali noticed the medical physician turn on her almost aggressive and slumped back, shaking her head in mild shame.

"Tali, be nice." She chastised the fuming quarian woman before looking up to Liara, adding "Yes, he's working with us. Legion's a nice geth."

Liara turned away from her defensive stance against Tali, who's hands were fists as she continued to stare at her defiantly. Though forgotten by the pair of brooding women and the referee keeping them in line. The head of the geth known as Legion tilted sightly it was as if nearly all of his 1183 geth programs were simultaneously confused by the title of 'Nice'.

"That is an inaccurate assessment, Chakwas, _Normandy_ Physician. Geth are not determined by emotional stimulation. There is no nice geth, only geth." Legion prattled out, correcting the doctor, the sudden statement throwing off Tali enough to make her bounce on her toes and press her back into the wall of the elevator. It did not register the slight amused look on the elder human's expression.

Liara couldn't help it, she looked back towards Tali who had just crossed her arms. Their eyes met for a moment, a silent question spoken in her eyes.

"I'm not giving you my opinion on it. I tolerate him. That's all." Tali said curtly, staring away to the holopanel as she watched the elevator ascended. Legion tilted it head at the remark. The effect made the quarian woman stiffen tighter. It was acknowledging her.

"Query: Do all organics facilitate a gender on geth?" Legion questioned the organics with a strange curious undertone to his usually stoic simple voice. He Added, "we are neither male nor female, we have zero emotional reaction to stimuli, sexual desires nor gender traits. We are geth."

"Shepard told me you blushed when he brought up your field repair." Tali retorted, unexpectedly, even for the geth which had turned completely over towards the hard looking quarian woman. Liara stepped away no longer obscuring the machine from the child of its creator.

Tali turned around as well and placed a foot forward. Glaring back just as hard as the empty bright lenses was focused on her. This wasn't the first time she was virtually alone with Legion. This was the first time they were tense and had no ability to contact Shepard to sooth it out. Tali looks down at her wrist, How easy it would be to hack the mistake in front of her and tear it to pieces with an overload. The elevators came to a stop. The doors opened up. Both Chakwas and T'Soni pushed their ways out. leaving the the geth and the quarian locked in a staring match.

"Geth do not blush."

Tali jumped slightly at the statement spoken by the machine was just as unexpected as her own remark surprised it. Tali blinked and exhaled, her hand falling away from her omni-tool. The movement was not lost on the machine. The elevator had opened, giving the machine to escape the inquisition of a sick and irritated creator.

"Concluding organic conversing." It concluded. Then with an awkward physical nod of it's head that Shepard had taught it. It pushed past the quarian, the human and the asari walked away, taking itself back towards the AI Core. Back with friendlier company such as EDI, the on board AI.

Chakwas could not help herself. She laughed at Tali's implications.

 _'Doctor Chakwas, I have to convinced Jeff to leave his post for his bi monthly medical evaluation. Thane Krios is also present for internal injury examinations.'_

"A Doctor's job is never complete." Chakwas sighed in mild amusement of the unlikely nurse she had found in EDI. "I will go check on those two. Both of you start without me. I'll be back in an hour."

Both Tali and Liara both bore a false smile and nodded, giving the older human leave away from the two seemingly unlikely of romantic rivals.

"Your tension is understandable." Liara spoke finally as Chakwas left their sight, leaving behind them. Tali didn't bother to look again, her head was bowed away in her own stubborn. Liara sighed, raising a tired eyebrow at Tali's strange behavior.

"He needed your help, your support and you told him that your obsessions overshadowed your friendship." Tali suddenly spat out, turning to Liara and moving at her aggressively, surprising even her.

"I spent two years of my _life_ chasing after one of the biggest threats to galaxy, third only to the Collectors and the Reapers." Liara shot back, her voice grim as her fists clamped up tight. Adding, "John did not need me, he had you and Garrus and a whole team of loyal men and women. My mission required no strings, nothing that could get in the way of me and the Shadow Broker."

Tali laughed at her and shook her head. She was not amused, the rage bulit up inside of her was nearing a boiling point. She was close to losing herself to rage she had never felt before

"Do you think that Shepard would care for that petty excuse?" She sarcastically shot back into the asari's face. "I distinctly recalling him offering to help you in any way possible. He did not mean to hack terminals or hunt down your damn secretary. He meant find and kill the broker!"

"You don't understand."

In that very moment, Tali held back the sudden urge to grab the silly little asari by her tendrils and drag her into Samara's room for her to face the justice of an 800 year old asari warrior.

" _I don't understand?"_ She repeated in a sharp hiss. "Are you really that damn thick? Despite your flat out rejection, he still gave you that damn Broker without any hesitation. Don't you see? He was your friend and when you had no more use to you, you told him that you did not care and politely said 'Fuck off'!"

The human curse word rolled off her tongue, causing the argument to die right then and there. Liara looked as though she had been physically struck by the quarian.

Tali widened her eyes from behind her visor and stepped away from the infuriating asari. She should not have lost her temper like that. It was childish. She looked u slowly, there stood Miranda, her arms crossed as if she had been disturbed by the shouting match. Slowly, Tali shrugged her shoulders to Miranda, a silent apology for her behavior. Miranda rolled her eyes and wandered back to her room.

Slowly, Tali'Zorah turned back around to face the silent asari. Liara's head ws bobbing up and down, as f agreeing with Tali.

"I know what I did Tali, I regret it." Liara murmured apologetically, attempting to work up the courage to look up. "As does Chief Williams I believe."

The moment of pity he had for the asari went away, it was replaced with a dull simmering rage whom, like Liara, was going to be dealt with as soon as Tali'Zorah vas Normandy found the bosh'tet who called her captain a traitor.

"Don't talk about..about... about th-that, horrible woman," Tali growled under her breath. She started pacing, trying to work way her aggression. Liara blinked at the surprisingly changed Tali. Gone were the days of meek curiosity and an enthusiastic quarian girl. Now she stood here with an attitude not dissimilar to that of John Shepard's.

The mere mention of that stupidly, stubborn soldier made her blood boil in sheer rage. She could understand placing her duty first, Keelah, that was the first thing quarians learned as small children. This was different, this was flat out disloyalty, disrespect and if she dared to say it, a traitorous act in her books.

"I see," Liara whispered to herself; Breaking Tali from vengeance filled thoughts.

"I suppose you wish to know where the Commander and I stand."

Tali looked up, meeting Liara's eyes. There was a knowing smile on the asari's lips as wrapped her fingers together. Their common interest became topic in only a few short seconds. Tali stepped back, bouncing her on her toes slightly as she wiled her herself to come up with neutral where she was respectful and collected and not under the influence of this flu that Shepard had giving her.

Liara held up her hands, a gesture that Tali took as _wait your turn_.

"He's my friend, I would not have it any other way." She said stated rather simply.

Tali blinked, not believing her for a second. Just a friend? She glanced at the tightly wrapped dress Liara was wearing enviously, an expression of femininity that Tali, in all likelihood would never get to express outwardly. Friends, yeah, sure, and she was a human. Liara noticed the narrowing of bright eyes through a mostly one way visor and sighed, choosing to elaborate.

"I will always have a special place in my heart for Shepard. He was my first love undoubtedly." She explained faintly; "But it was when I was young, young and naïve and full of silly idealism."

Liara wore a slight smile as she remembered her few days with Shepard and added, "John is a wonderful man. But neither I nor him were meant for each other. We were two frightened people looking for comfort before the end."

Tali shuffled in her place, as the words spoken by the asari died in the air. She had to say something to her. Nothing, however, felt right to say at that moment. The next thing she knew, she was throwing herself right at Liara, whose eyes widened in shock. Tali wrapped her arms tightly around her. She sighed, and closed her eyes.

"-I'm sorry for my behavior. I-It's just that I have never loved anyone outside my family, Liara." she whispered "He's the first, it's early in what w-we hare, but I just know he'll be the only man I will love!"

Liara smiled, rubbing the quarian's back soothingly. She was happy to see that at long last, perhaps they could be friends...

"I know, Tali, now I am going to hold you to that. Shepard's heart is only set on you, I will not get in the way of your love." Liara agreed with Tali as she let her go, adding, "Now, come, we promised Doctor Chakwas we would meet her for drinks."

Tali nodded and smiled from behind her mask.

"I'll be right there. I've been working on the engines since you started your mission."

Liara nodded graciously and smiled, she turned away and left the presence of the now, much happier quarian in her midst. Lost in her own thoughts, Tali did not notice the tall figure standing behind her.

"She is far too young to have endured the hardships she has gone through."

Tali jumped slightly turned around. There stood Samara. Tall and well poised and emotionless as she stared down the young asari whom was walking towards the port observation deck. From behind her mask Tali's eyes widened in surprise of the Justicar's presence.

This was the first time they ever had a conversation between the two of them since Samara had joined the Commander's ground team. Tali had always meant to get to know the asari; However, work and wanting to respect Samara's ingrained solitary lifestyle kept the quarian far out of the aging warrior's way.

"Justicar?" Was Tali's uncertain but extremely polite reply.

"You are correct to not trust her." The Justicar spoke plainly as she stood next to the quarian. "There is a taint on her. Of murder, corruption. all in the name of the dead and missing. Now she possesses the keys to the galaxies most intimate of secrets."

Samara shook her head in disapproval over the maiden asari.

"She is much to young to hold that responsibility." She concluded softly, staring down to the Starboard lounge where Liara was waiting for her to join. Tali glanced back to Samara. She seemed almost resign to her own opinion, It was almost as if she did not want to hold the opinion but rigid education scripture following was keeping her personal opinion suppressed.

She still had to nod though. Liara was still much too too young to hold the galaxies secrets. She could have been so obsessive over bringing her John back, how would she deal with every temptation the Broker had meticulously gathered and organized over a thousand years.

"What would you do?" She questioned the Justicar softly. The asari turned away and looked at the quarian, sizing her up before choosing to answer the question.

"I am sworn to my oath, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. The Galaxy would be better off with the Network destroyed in its entirety." Samara explained, "The young T'Soni is just as likely to become power hungry as was the one before her, and the before that. Whether death is warranted for her will depend on actions against myself and as the Shadow Broker"

"However I am sworn to my words to Shepard, Should he considers her to be still a friend, then I will _overlook_ her less noble traits." She finished. She could not have noticed the frown Tali's face.

"An oath that ended a few weeks ago." Tali observed neutrally. Samara turned her gaze back to Tali, either unaware or uncaring for the faint purple on her face.

"An oath can be renewed." Samara informed her without missing a beat, "As you are his mate, I will ask you for your permission to renew it before I approach him."

It was Tali's turn to blush and clasped her hands at the blunt remark made by the usually distant Justicar, of which she had never breathed a word to until now.

"P-pardon?" She whispered, not wanting to be overheard. While it certainly was no secret, she just found herself uncomfortable speaking about it in public. The twinge of doubt whether she was worthy of his feelings, Whether John was just 'slumming it' wasn't about to go away just yet.

Strangely enough, Samara smiled. It did not meet her eyes but it was a sympathetic one.

"I am older then you can imagine, young one. An asari long before a Justicar no less" She explained her, her hand reached out and grabbed Tali's shoulder as she held her in place, adding,"I know how to spot attraction long before others. Though, anyone paying attention to both of you would have noticed it."

With a slight nod, Samara wandered down towards the messhall for a meal. It only took a split second for Tali to speak up loudly to catch the elder woman's attention.

"Samara." She called, waiting for the asari to turn. Samara did and cocked her head slightly.

"I'd be honored if you were to protect Shepard." She stated, her tone formal for the asari. "I think he forgets that he needs us protecting him, like he does for us.

The asari bowed her head in apparent concurrence and continued heading down. Tali exhaled softly and headed down to Kasumi's room where most certainly the two of them were drinking heavily and and gearing up for a round of certain interrogation for her.

It had been longer conversation then Tali had wanted to be in. The drinks however seemed to pass the time quicker as Tali, Kasumi and Chakwas brought Liara up to date on the journeys of the new Normandy. She talked about each of the members, what made them tick, what kind of person they were. They were a colorful bunch.

Slowly the two of them lightened uo ad soon enough, Liara and Tali were chatting away like old friends. Maybe not as young, certainly not as naive. But it still felt wonderful. The thoughts of the mutual human interest they had both shared was on the back burner as they remained far away from the Shepard issue, at least for the sake of the reunion.

Before the engineer knew it, Liara was bidding farewell to her, it seemed her drell partner, Feron had called her to return for some sort of Broker business. Liara promised her that they would stay in touch. No longer did she want her obsessions to destroy the few friendships she had left.

Now she was alone, her thoughts drifting back to the topic that was no longer taboo with Liara's departure. Shepard, and how she was going to work up the courage to head up to his deck and face him. He deserved an apology, for her cold denial, for her accusing him of purposely furthering Cerberus' goals.

There was something else to it as well. As much as she believed that Liara was no longer interested in John in the way she was, there was still this bubbling jealousy. A reminder that John had to be fought for in order to stay hers.

Keelah, she sounded horrible. She sounded so petty. Perhaps what she really needed to learn was how to control these feelings. Perhaps Samara the ever clear minded example, would be best choice should she allow it.

Out of nowhere, a weight fell on her leg making a loud snoring sound. It was Doctor Chakwas and she was passed out from the amount of alcohol in her. Shepard had mentioned to her that Chakwas was a lightwieght... whatever that was. Kasumi looked up from her drink and giggled at the sight. Tali groaned ran her hand across her mask in irritation.

"Do you think her drunk is funny?"

Kasumi tsked her playfully.

"You have to admit, it's cute to see the good doctor let her hair down and commingle with her patients." Kasumi said as she pulled herself off the barstool and unsteadily walked over to the couch. Gently, she pulled up the Doctor, allowing Tali to escape. Kasumi unceremoniously let the the doctor drop, who grunted in her sleep.With a knowing grin, Kasumi sat down and rest Doctor Chakwas' legs on her lap, looking back up to Tali., who was rubbing her wrist.

"I'm more surprised you didn't have an aneurysm when she tried to talk about you and the Commander blowing through her antibiotics supplies faster then Jack can swear." She mused teasingly . She looked rather pleased with herself as she watched Tali squirmed where she stood unpleasantly.

There was a brief silence between the two partially drunk women. Tali glanced down as Chakwas shuffled in her sleep mumbling in her sleep.

" _Itte, kare o sanshō shite kudasai, anata wa orokana shōjo!"_ Kasumi suddenly barked at Tali, making her jump up in surprise. Tali set her vial of a tangy turian whiskey and looked at the human in utter confusion. Kasumi rolled her eyes and wanted off her hood, allowing long dark hair to fall freely over her eyes.

"You've spoken to Liara, now go and talk to him, will you? Your moping over him is reaaallly tiresome!" She exclaimed in a language that Tali's translator could pick up. Tali shook her head quickly in denial.

"But, J-"

"No Tali, go! You don't get to make excuses, not when you two are crazy for each other. Now go!" Kasumi exclaimed at the quarian heatedly. While there was smile on her face, her words were serious. They both never knew how long they'd have each other for. So why waste it on jealous or a petty disagreement.

Tali opened her mouth again, only to get a dangerously wide eyed glare from the diminutive Japanese girl. Tali sighed and nodded curtly and left the room, leaving behind a smirking human whom took a big gulp of her drink.

She could have this conversation, walk in, tell him that she was sorry, tell him that she love him and she regret starting all this drama thanks to this bloody fever. He could forgive. She's probably be reprimanded and punished in someway. Maybe even get shouted at by him.

Oh Keelah, she could only hope he'd do that. She loved hearing him shout.

As Tali stepped into the elevator, Her thoughts drifted far off, as she felt small prick enter her skin. It was Doctor Chakwas' auto injector, loaded with an antibiotics and herbal supplements. She sighed as the fluid entered her veins. Memories of soft human skin onto hypersensitive quarian. From a simple kiss to him whispering in her ear that he was quite capable of digesting dextro fluids without allergenic reactions. Thankfully for Tali, it was something he was only to happy to show off for her.

The doors to his room slid open as she stepped inside, her mind still focused. She felt a heat come to her face and a dangerous tremble as her senses recalled that act of love for her. Now that the too of them had more time to be tender with each other, she would have to ask if he was willing for an encore of sorts.

That was if her captain sitting at his work desk was willing to hear her out first.

John was utterly relaxed, his body was leaned against the back of his chair as his eyes scanned over something on his datapad. The thoughts and memories only became more visible. The feeling of John's strong and numerous digits; Dragging down her body, teasing and pinching and firing her up to an orgasm she could never imagine herself having.

His body, chiseled and firm as it laid pressed against her, making her go wild with unbridled and fully appreciated by him as their skin got wetter and wetter with arousal and sweat from the indescribable feeling of him inside he-.

"Am I going to have to say something, Or is this just going to be a one sided staring match." Shepard spoke up, catching her off guard and breaking her away from the impure thoughts about him.

She blushed hard as she faintly imagined that on his serious expression was a knowing look.

"Shepard?" she whispered uncertainly. Shepard continued to pour over his datapad as though she hadn't whispered his name at first. It was another minute before he spoke.

"Something I can help you with, Miss Zorah?"

From behind her mostly one way mask, she squinted at the strange comment made by the human. Shepard set his datapad on his table and at long last, he looked up, staring at Tali as if she was going to say something long and arduous to the Commander. She had a speech too; How, she was sorry about her behavior, how she didn't want her emotions to get in the way of survival.

She crossed her arms, leaning her weight onto her left leg as she gazed at him curiously.

"Miss Zorah?" She challenged him haughtily. Shepard raised one of his eyebrows at her protest and stood, his hands connected to each other. Tali stared at him, her eyes flickered down to his hands.

With a smirk for his quarian lead engineer, Shepard merely shrugged casually.

"You call me Shepard, I call you Zorah. It's suppose to be cute" He informed her faintly as walked over and past her, faintly brushing by her and making the effort to allow his hand to drag agonizingly slow over her side, making the quarian close her eyes as a wave of arousal caught her off guard.

If she could only tear off this damn mask...her latest injections would kick in, in about fifteen minutes, too long for her likening.

"I suppose you're here to blast me apart for what we did." Was all her captain asked as he pulled what looked to be some sort of alcoholic drink off his bedside table and took a sip idly. Tali shook her head in denial. Before she could open her mouth to form a denial, he turned back and tilted his head curiously at the quarian.

"Suspect me of not having feelings for you and probably that I'm about to dump you for the new Shadow Broker?"

The possessive young quarian shook her head in vehement denial.

"I wanted to apologize, I have been very cold lately." The engineer murmured softly in return, her hands wringing as she turned away him; there was a note of regret and guilt in her voice quietly. John merely shrugged softly and tilted his head at her curiously.

"You were forgiven long before you came her." He plainly stated to her, sipping his drink as though he hadn't sad anything at all important to her.

Tali turned back to him quick and bounced on the tips of her toes in shock. On Johns face was nothing more then a polite smile in return.

"I-I was?" Was her unsure reply. John nodded and set his glass back down, With only a moment of delay he wandered back over towards Tali, causing her step back and allowed him space right next to her.

"I chalked it up to the flu." He spoke softly, passing by Tali again on his way to EDI's AI interface.

He turned his head over to her, his hand tapping the interface off manually, quietly locking EDI out of his residence. It was a trick he had learned of after he caught his pilot asking EDI for any sort of recording. Joker got lucky that only Shepard had been aware of it. The quarian woman probably would have gutted him and fed what was left to Grunt.

"That night must have resulted in you being sicker then you ever had before." he continued, stepping lightly back towards her. You have every reason to be angry or wanting to make me unable to have sex ever again."

Tali shuffled in place, her hands wringing in nervous reaction to such blunt words.

"I don't think I would want to go that far." She returned slowly, a small note of distinct sultriness became as clear as day.

Shepard chuckled lowly at her words.

"Have I seriously tempted the princess of the flotilla?" Shepard grinned at her and took a step closer to her. Tali reached out and shoved the human hard, her eyes narrowed at the remark he made.

" _I'm not a princess!_ " She all but growled at her captain. John didn't even flinch, instead he stepped forward, forcing her back a step defensively. Shepard merely smirked mildly.

"The daughter of an admiral, raised to a life of privilege, the best schooling, the best training, the best equipment.." He listed off, ignoring her denial as he continued to force her backwards. " Only to be seduced by a roughneck human ship captain with his many digits and a desire to make her happy?"

She was now down the steps to the floor of his bedroom. The words he spoke, she should have been offended but they sounded so good rolling off his tongue, making her feel like what they shared together was illicit, dangerous. Whatever he was doing, he was good at getting a rise out of her.

"Be quiet." She half heartily returned, her head bowed for a second before his hand was under the chin of her mask and raised it up so she was stuck staring into those piercing blue eyes of his. She shivered again as she backed up powerlessly in the presence of was the dominating man.

"Tempted to a life of an interspecies romance." He whispered, his hands rubbing down the sides of her arms and gripping her hands possessively, she smirked, adding, "Are you curious, perhaps even wanting me to teach you about this thing called love that humans have? I haven't taught you everything there is about it yet."

If she wasn't so aroused, she would have probably been more upset with his bluntly ignorant statement. She was breathing heavy now, her bright eyes wide as she squirmed as Tali watched her Commander slowly move in to the gap between them.

"Love translates to almost all of the sentient species." Was her blank response to John's remark. It was weak, and it only served to make the human smile even wider, resulting in her legs, naturally stronger the most to feel weak as muscle memory reminded her of how easy he could make her melt with the right, skilled touch.

Her human's wonderfully built hands slid up hers and over and under her arm, until at long last, they gripped her hips tight. Tali closed her eyes, exhaling louder then she meant to. She did not wish to show Shepard any weakness but here she was, acting like John had never touched her like this before.

"Is the daughter of the Admiral excited yet... Princess Tali of the Neema?" he whispered to her gentle, it sounded like genuine concern. Tali knew better then to believe it.

"Y-you're just being annoying, now." She stuttered as strong arms reached around and grabbed a hold of her body. Her legs stopped moving as she hit herself against the foot of Shepard's bed.

"It is a forbidden love. It must be exciting.." He observed plainly, his smirks growing ever larger as he closed i on her; "What will the fleet think of this? What of your Auntie Raan?"

Tali hadn't thought about her adoptive aunt reaction to all of this, she could not even care what Shala'Raan had to think. She was lucky she even remembered how to breath, and that was an involuntary reflex. Still, the thought of the admiral finding out sent shivers down her back.

Or perhaps that was because She was now half sitting, half crawling away from John on the soft bed they shared not a week prior. The sensation of softy fabric sliding long her back and hands, even through the suit, felt wonderful.

"I wonder what would my parents think..." John suddenly cut through Tali's limited thought process as he cornered her against the wall.

All primitive and forbidden thoughts disappeared in a flash thanks to a simple self imposed question. She had forgotten that her Captain had parents. Parents who would undoubtedly ask why would their son every want to shack up with something like her.

"Y-your parents?" She whispered fearfully, her hands attempted to wring together but they were grabbed by the human and pinned high above her head in a grasp that Tali knew she could never break. Not that she minded. this domination was turning her on for the third time that night.

"Oh yes, my parents." He confirmed for his wide eyed quarian, His lips leaning in close to her visor, "One day soon they're going to find you, sit you down and interrogate you about your intentions for me."

Tali's eyes flew wide open at his words, her mind went into overdrive as the sudden realization struck her. John had parents. John had a family that was ot restricted to the a one child only policy like the quarians. His family could have been huge, grandparents aunts and uncles, cousins. Maybe even siblings.

Keelah...what has she gotten into!

"B-but.."

"Oh, and this is the best part!" He continued, ignoring her stammering rebuttal protests; "If they don't like you, they'll invoke a parental rights and order you to fight in my name against potential suitors."

"John!" She all but screamed, finding the strength to wrench her hands away from his. She slapped his head and body playfully as he burst into laughter and flopped on top of her. Still Tali continued to slap him painfully. He ignored it though. He deserved her scorn for the way he was acting. As playful as it was meant, Shepard was certain Tali had a long way to go before she was more open to teasing.

Eventually the laughter and the swearing in Khelish died down to the occasion smack to the side. John shuffled his weight around as he wrapped his arms around Tali's waist. His head found a comfortable spot on the top of her breasts. Quietly, the two of them sat together. The sensation of Tali's hands running through his growing hair and up and down his neck gave him the shivers.

"You are very cruel to me." She pouted, her accented voice arousing the human slightly. Shepard grunted in return, nodding into her breasts. Tali smiled and continued touching him softly and sighed softly at the sensation of pressure on her body.

"You know. It never occurred to me to allow Liara to meet my parents." He whispered back to her. He felt her body go rigid at the remark so he soothed her.

"The moment we our priorities straight, It was all I could think about." Shepard admitted to her carefully. "Not just that. A future, for us. If, well, you'd allow it."

Tali looked at him incredulously, he was acting as shy as she usually was. it was adorable. Deciding to give him a break and perhaps make him relax as well, she reached out and took his hand, squeezing it tightly, she looked down at and smiled, they seemed so strange together. She loved it.

"You know I don't think long term very much." John spoke again, getting her to glance back up at him. "I made a promise to Liara."

Before Tali could react, he pressed his lips to the side of her soft veil. Slowly he pulled away at her and looked her straight in the eyes. Tali tilted her head head. He had that look of determination. The one he got whenever he was going to do the impossible. Kill Reapers, stop the Collectors, save her life.

"I'm going to get Rannoch back for you." He promised her, a small smile rested on his expression. Tali's eyes widened and recoiled in shock. Shepard and her met eyes as they allowed the word to sink in.

Slowly, she pulled her hand out of Shepard's, she reached up and tugged the safety latches off of her mask. There was a a sudden exclamations of protest from John but she did not mind It, the mask was off, leaving herself exposed to him and open to more illness then she already in her.

"Tali..."

Tali shook her head and grabbed Shepard's hand, brining up to her face. Slowly she closed her eyes and sighed the the feeling of his rough hands grazed her face. She felt tears stream down her eyes as the thoughts of the two of the, making a life with John on the homeworld, raising children, being a peace after litany of blood that brought to two different lovers together.

"I'll be fine." She whispered through trickling tears down her pale skin "I've been drowning in antibiotics for the past few days. Mordin is on duty if I get bad."

John nodded and tucked a portion of Tali's thick, braided black hair behind her veil. He leaned in and carefully, he dried her eyes for the quarian who was tearing up.

"That is a very big promise to make John." She whispered to him, her forehead pressed against his, her eyes closed. Shepard nodded in agreement. It was a huge promise. When that he was going to keep, no matter how long it would take.

"I don't break promises."

Tali pulled away and glanced at her John's expression, it was sheer confidence. As if he already knew that he would. She smiled and nodded in swift agreement. She leaned in again to her human lover, carefully brushing her lips against his. The kiss was soft and sweet, making Tali melt down into his arms., more relaxed then she had been since the last time she had exposed herself to her captain. Quietly, she nuzzled in to the nape of John's neck. It made her feel so safe, protected, loved.

Softly, she yawned .

"Shepard?"

"Yes?" He returned back to her, his fingers rubbing Tali's stomach in circles. She looked up, right into his nose much to her displeasure.

"Rannoch is going to take a while to return." She murmured sleepily, "Do you think your parents will want me around influencing you for that long?"

John laughed appreciatively and bent his lips down, kissing the tip of her nose. Tali squeaked in protest and furiously rubbed it as though wiping off any germs. heard her mumble something in Khelish. It couldn't have been pleasant.

"Tali," He said as he watched her shuffle and close her eyes, "They'd be lucky to have you around."


End file.
